the window
by snoboarder0708
Summary: emmy transfers to dillon high school after events that have left her shattered. the last things she expects to find there are trust and understanding... and the last person anyone expects her to find these things with is tim riggins... r and r :
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

She wasn't here to make friends. She was here to complete her year as painlessly as possible so she could jet off to college and leave high school and everything that came with it behind. Those were the thoughts going through Emmy's head as she pulled her tan Jeep into the parking lot at Dillon High School. Usually the first day of school meant new beginnings and excitement, but Emmy felt neither. As she slammed her car door and stuck her keys into her backpack, she caught her reflection in the window. She could see her long, wavy, sandy brown hair sticking out from under the hood of her gray sweatshirt. Emmy had heard countless times how beautiful her hair was, but today she just wanted to hide. She frowned as she leaned over to brush a crumb from her bagel off of her jeans. Stuffing her iPod headphones into her ears, she sighed and headed for the entrance. The sooner this school year was over, the better.

Tired and possibly slightly hung-over, Tim Riggins rolled into the parking lot in his truck. He was about to park his car when a girl in a hooded gray sweatshirt stepped out in front of him. Tim was about to honk when the girl looked up. He didn't recognize her, but his attention was immediately captured. There was something about her eyes that Tim couldn't place his finger on. They were piercingly blue and they sent shivers through his body. After a few seconds of staring, Tim shook his head. _Probably overdid it with the drinking last night_, Tim thought as he snapped back to his car. The girl frowned and continued on her way as Tim parked his car, still in daze.

Yanking open the door to the school, Emmy was immediately met by noise. She turned up the volume on her iPod and reluctantly entered. She had received her class schedule in the mail and was trying to locate her locker when she was tapped on the shoulder. Whipping her head around, Emmy found herself facing a perky woman with long blonde hair. "Honey, we don't allow iPods or cell phones during school hours!" she said to Emmy. Emmy stared at her for a moment then slowly took the headphones out of her ears. "So sorry", Emmy began with the smallest hint of annoyance. After nearly being run over in the parking lot, Emmy was in no mood to deal with this person. "That's okay", the increasingly upbeat woman chimed. "You must be new! I don't recognize you". Emmy nodded. "Well I'm Mrs. Taylor, the guidance counselor, and if you have any questions or problems you just come and see me ya hear?" Emmy nodded again and turned away in the direction she thought she would find her locker. As soon as she was out of sight of Mrs. Taylor, Emmy stuffed her headphones back into her ears and cranked up the volume again. If everyone in Dillon was as perky as Mrs. Taylor, Emmy was going to have some serious problems. Rolling her eyes, she found her locker and began spinning the combination listed on her schedule. As she was on the last number, someone slammed into her and knocked her completely off balance. After gracefully avoiding a complete wipe-out, Emmy snapped her head to glare at the offender. Looking down at her was a huge and muscular guy grinning widely. "Watch it!" Emmy hissed. "Whoa! Calm down! The Smash was just tryin to welcome his new locker buddy!" "Locker buddy?!" Emmy answered incredulously. "Yeah!! You don't know how lucky you are! You must be new so you don't know alotta people around here, but there's not a person in this school who doesn't want their locker next to the Smash!!!" Emmy stared in disbelief. "Well, meet the first!" she retorted. Just then, a group of guys she assumed to be "The Smash's" friends walked by where she was standing. "Yo Smash!" one of them yelled. Emmy rolled her eyes and turned back to her locker. "Who's the hottie?" one of them said under their breath to Smash. Emmy tried to tune them out as she began cramming books into her locker. She wasn't exactly a stranger to this reaction. Everywhere she went she turned heads. No matter how hard she was trying to hide beneath a gray hoodie today, Emmy was gorgeous and athletic; a combination not many guys could seem to resist. Slamming her locker, Emmy started off toward what she hoped was her first class. "Don't worry baby! We'll get to know each other better later!" Smash called out after her. Headphones in ears, Emmy's music drowned out the sound of laughter behind her.

Tim Riggins shuffled through the doors of Dillon High School and groaned to himself. He was not in the mood today to deal with Tyra or Lyla or any of the drama that was hanging onto him from last year. Add after school football practice, and Tim was preparing himself for a pretty bad day. "Well hey there Tim how are you doin today?!" Tim turned to see Mrs. Taylor glancing up at him expectantly. Tim cleared his throat. "I'm fine Mrs. Taylor how are you?" He answered in the best gentleman voice he could muster. "You all excited for a new school year?" She beamed at him. "Oh yeah", Tim answered with a slight raise of his eyebrows. After saying goodbye to Mrs. Taylor, Tim made his way to class. Various football players high-fived him and a huge number of rally girls and non rally girls alike giggled and whispered in his presence as he made his way down the hallway. But Tim barely noticed all this as the bell rang and he slid in the door to his first class.

Emmy somehow found her way to her first class and took a seat in the back of the room. She glanced down at her schedule. Math. _Good _she thought. She was good at math and didn't need to pay attention. Making sure her hood was secure and her iPod was up loud, Emmy put her head down on her desk to sleep. Surely no one would care whether or not she paid attention. Wrong. What seemed like seconds later, Emmy was tapped on the should by a teacher who did not look too happy. "Would you like to put your head up and pay attention?" questioned the teacher. Emmy looked at all the kids staring at her, and then again at the teacher. "Not really, no", Emmy answered. Stifled laughter echoed around the classroom as the teacher straightened her back. "Well then," the teacher answered shortly. "I don't normally do this on the first day, but I'll make an exception for you." With this, the teacher, who Emmy now saw from her schedule was Ms. Colby, walked over to her desk and took out a slip of paper from the top drawer. She handed it to Emmy and said, "This is a detention slip. You may be new here, but that does not mean you don't follow the rules. You can report to my room after school for an hour and a half." Emmy took the slip without a word and shoved it into her backpack. "Now….", Ms. Colby began facing back to the class. "Calculus is a very exciting class…". Ms. Colby's voice trailed off as Emmy stared out the window thinking that she must have just set a record for fastest detention ever. Emmy's mind began to drift farther and she jumped when the bell rang dismissing the class. Rushing to get out the door before Ms. Colby could say anything else to her, Emmy gathered her things and stepped back into the madness that was Dillon High School.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Somehow Emmy managed to make it through the rest of the morning without collecting any more detention slips. By the time 4th period rolled around she was ready to be done with Dillon High School. The school was clearly dominated by football players and cheerleaders- two groups of people Emmy didn't especially like. These thoughts rolled around in her head as she tried to find her 4th hour class. Unfortunately, it was in a different part of the school and Emmy had no idea where she was going. The bell signaling the start of class rang, and Emmy quickened her pace. _Great. _She thought. Emmy didn't care about being late, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself by coming into class after it had already started. Luckily, she found her English class within a minute and slipped through the door. Letting it close softly behind her, Emmy glanced up at the class and teacher, all of whom were now starting at her. Emmy pulled her hood tighter around her head and made her way to the only empty seat- the one in the back corner behind the guy with long brown hair and muscular shoulders. He looked familiar to Emmy as he stared at her, but she didn't think too much about it. Instead, sinking into her seat she let her mind wander for about the hundredth time that day.

_English._ Tim Riggins sighed silently as he took a seat near the back of the room. English wasn't exactly Tim's strongest subject, and now he was stuck in an English class with a bunch of giggling rally girls. "Tim I can't believe we're in the same English class!" Katie, an overly peppy rally girl chirped at him. "Yeah it's great." Tim answered unenthusiastically. "We can talk every day and you can tell me what to bake you for games!" She continued obviously unaware of the fact that Tim couldn't care less about her. "Mmhmm." Tim nodded absent mindedly. As the bell rang, Katie returned to her seat and Tim turned his attention to the front of the room where the teacher was starting to talk. It wasn't that Tim didn't enjoy all the attention and giggling from the rally girls- in fact he usually got a lot out of them in terms of favors. It was just that lately all of the unnecessary drama that seemed to hang like a cloud over his head was starting to get old. He was tired of school, and cheerleaders, and just Dillon in general. As he was thinking this, the door creaked open and a girl in a gray sweatshirt walked in. Tim raised his head to look at the late student and felt his chest tighten. There she was again. The girl he had almost hit in the parking lot. She looked up at the class and Tim got another view of those eyes. They had the same effect on him as the first time he had seen her. Her eyes were so shockingly blue that he barely noticed when she started to make her way toward him. He was staring, but he didn't care. Tim shifted his position and resisted the urge to turn around as she took a seat behind him. _Maybe English won't be so bad,_ he thought.

The English teacher Mr. Smith wasted no time. As he began discussing the first assignment Emmy found herself thinking about the guy sitting directly in front of her. Why had he been staring at her so funny? And where had she seen him before? She frowned and thought harder. Suddenly it hit her. He was the guy from the truck that had almost run her over earlier this morning. The realization surprised her, and so it was even more surprising when he turned around and started talking to her. "So I guess we're working together, right?" he asked her. "What?" Emmy answered confused. She had been so lost in thought that she had completely missed what the teacher had been saying. The guy pointed at the board in the front of the room. Emmy looked at it and saw the class assignment written in Mr. Smith's loopy writing. _With the person sitting directly behind you, write a descriptive paragraph about your first morning at school. One page minimum. _"Oh. Yeah I guess so." Emmy answered indifferently. "Cool. I'm Tim." He said to Emmy. "I'm Emmy." She answered with no emotion. Tim grinned as Emmy sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "So… how should we start this?" questioned Tim. "Hmmm", said Emmy pretending to think. "How about something along the lines of… this morning walking into school I almost got hit by some guy in a pickup truck who clearly doesn't know how to drive." Emmy retorted. Tim began laughing which only made Emmy madder. "Is that what happened?" Tim laughed. "If I remember correctly, you stepped out right in front of my truck. If I wasn't such an alert driver I might have hit you!" Emmy rolled her eyes. "You're right of course", she shot back with sarcasm. "What could I have been thinking?! Why on earth would you have been watching where you were going while driving? Let me just make a mental note that you are just way to awesome to pay attention to anyone but yourself, and from now on it is _my_ job to get out of _ your_ way. Tim resisted the urge to laugh again. "Well," Tim began. "Maybe if you came out from under that hood and took out your headphones you would be more aware of what was going on around you." Emmy rolled her eyes again, this time angrier. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Tim suppressed more laughter. "Don't worry about it." Tim stated. "Just don't let it happen again." "I'll do my best." Emmy answered in a completely flat voice. Tim smiled. "So for real, you're new here right? What brings you to Dillon?" He asked. "Relatives." Emmy answered without looking up from her writing. The way Emmy tensed up when he asked the question, Tim guessed there was more to the story. He wasn't about to press it though, and the rest of the period passed by as Emmy and Tim finished their writing assignment. When the bell rang, Emmy shot out of her seat and headed for the door, more than ready to get away from Tim. Tim however, felt the opposite way. He stared as Emmy stalked out the door, unable to help himself from noticing how gorgeous she was. Even without that though, she had captured Tim's attention completely. She was different than any girl he had ever met in Dillon and Tim thought there was a lot to her that she wasn't revealing. He couldn't believe his luck in the fact that she sat right behind him in English. He would be able to talk to her all year long. He smiled thinking that Emmy would probably not be happy about this fact. As Tim made his way out into the hallway and onto lunch, he was able to get a last glimpse of Emmy as she turned the corner.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey!! So thanks to the people who reviewed… I really appreciate it!!! This is my first fanfic so I hope it's not too awful! Anyways thanks so much for reviewing… keep doing it!!! **

Chapter Three

As Emmy walked into detention at the end of day, she fished her detention slip out of her backpack. She could feel Ms. Colby's eyes judging her black nail polish as she handed over the slip. Emmy sunk down in a chair and glanced up at the clock on the wall. One hour, 29 minutes to go.

Football practice. Even though he had been dreading it all day, Tim knew he needed this. Football was his release, his escape. The way he had been feeling lately, a good practice was exactly the thing to help him.

"So has anyone else seen the new girl." Matt Saracen asked in the locker room later that day.

"Yeah man her locker's right next to mine!" Smash answered.

"Oh I remember her!" Someone else put it. "She totally shot you down today!"

"Aw come on now!" Smash laughed. "No one shoots down the Smash! She just needs a lil time to warm up to me!"

Tim listened hard. Were they talking about Emmy? "Are you guys talking about that girl with the gray sweatshirt?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, why?" Smash shot back at Tim. "You got a little thing for her?" he asked laughing.

The rest of the locker room started laughing.

"No." Tim smiled. "She's in my English class and I was just asking cuz it seems like she has some serious issues."

"Hey man it's ok you don't have ta hide it! She's hot!" Smash exclaimed. Just then Coach Taylor burst into the locker room.

"On the field NOW!" he screamed at his team. Tim stood up and ran out to the field, pushing Emmy out of his head.

Emmy shot out the front doors of the school checking her phone for the time. _Great._ She thought. Thanks to Ms. Colby and her stupid detention, Emmy would have a lot less time in the studio. Hurrying to her car, she nearly ran right into a girl with long blonde hair by the football field.

"Sorry." Emmy muttered barely looking up.

"That's ok!" The girl chimed. "Hey you're the new girl, right?"

Emmy sighed before turning around. She really needed to hurry! "Yeah I'm Emmy."

"Hey Emmy." The girl answered. "I'm Julie."

"Nice to meet you." Emmy replied before taking off again, this time almost sprinting to her car.

As he squirted water on his face, Tim happened to look up and see Emmy. _What is she doing here so late?_ He saw her talking to Julie and saw her nearly sprint off toward the parking lot. _What is she in such a hurry for? Why is she talking to Julie?_

"RIGGINS!" Coach Taylor screamed from the field. "Did you not hear me calling you the last five times!? Get your ass out here NOW!!!" Tim shook the thoughts from his head and jogged out the rest of the team.

_Stupid detention!_ Emmy grumbled to herself as she struggled to change in her car. As quickly as she could, she pulled on her black tights and leotard. After wrapping her sheer black skirt around her waist and tying it, she pulled on a sweater and scrunched her hair up into a messy bun. Struggling to slip her dance shoes on, Emmy ran into the studio.

"You're late!" Emmy heard Gina exclaim as she fell through the doors.

"I know I'm sorry!" Emmy gushed. "I started school today and some dumb teacher gave me detention!"

Gina burst out in laughter. "Girl! How do you get a detention on the first day of school?!" Emmy smiled. She loved Gina. And not just because she had agreed to give Emmy lessons and let her use the studio everyday after school as long as she helped Gina teach some dance classes to smaller kids. Gina was almost a constant ball of energy. She was well into her 30's, but didn't look a day over 29. She was an amazing dancer and knew nearly everything about being a dancer.

"Ok let's get started!" Gina said still laughing. Emmy dropped her stuff off and followed Gina. As soon as Emmy heard the music start, she relaxed completely. Dance was her therapy. After everything that had happened to her in the past year, dance had remained the only constant. The minute she walked through the doors of the studio, she became a completely different person. She relaxed, started smiling, and felt at home. The music took over Emmy's body as she lost herself in her dance and the events of her less than perfect day fell away.


	4. Chapter 4

**THANKS FOR REVIEWING!!!! Reviews make me happy!! **

Chapter Four

"Nice going! You were on today!" Gina exclaimed as Emmy gathered her things.

"Thanks!" Emmy breathed. "Are you sure you don't need any help teaching tonight?" She asked hopefully. She didn't want to leave the dance studio.

"Yeah, I've only got one more group lesson tonight." Gina answered. "But I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Of course. Bye Gina!" Emmy called as she started toward the exit and took out her iPod.

"Emmy?!"

Emmy looked up startled at the voice. It was Julie, the girl she had run into at the football field earlier. "Um, hey." Emmy answered still surprised.

"You dance?" Julie asked excitedly.

"Yeah." Emmy answered.

"That's so cool!" Julie answered. "Are you gonna be in Gina's next dance recital."

There was no way anyone was getting Emmy to do that dance recital. She had already discussed this with Gina. "Um, maybe I haven't decided yet." Emmy lied.

"Oh ok. Well see you at school tomorrow!" Julie called happily as Emmy continued out the door.

20 minutes later Emmy collapsed onto her bed. Dancing had taken a lot out of her today.

"Emmy!!" a voice called from downstairs. Emmy raised her head.

"I'll be there in a minute!" Emmy yelled in reply. She quickly pulled some sweats on over her dance clothes and headed downstairs.

"How was school today?" Emmy's grandmother asked her as she served the chicken.

"It was pretty good grandma." Emmy answered. "I got a lot of homework though." She continued just making conversation.

"Have you started filling out your college applications yet?" her grandfather asked her from the other side of the table.

"Not yet grandpa, but I'm going to really soon." She answered. Emmy sighed as her grandmother sat down and the three began eating. It had been like this for a while now; just Emmy and her grandparents. Ever since the accident last summer, she had been living with her grandparents in Texas. It was a far cry from her home in Colorado, but she was getting used to it. Even though she missed her parents every second of every day, she always put on a brave face for her grandparents sake. They had done everything they could to make her feel more at home- bought her a new car, redone a bedroom for her upstairs, and supported her dance. Emmy loved them, but was still getting used to the huge change.

"Emmy do want some ice cream honey?" her grandmother's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Sure grandma!" Emmy smiled. She inhaled her ice cream, and helped her grandparents clear the table. After her grandfather went to watch football and her grandmother settled into read, Emmy trudged back up to her bedroom. Stripping off her sweaty dance clothes, Emmy turned on the shower in her newly lime green bathroom that was connected to her room through her own mini hallway. She smiled. Her grandparents really had made an effort with her room. Stepping into the shower, Emmy closed her eyes. All her muscles ached from dance, and it felt great. She let the warm water rush over her body and cleared her mind of all thoughts. When she turned off the water an hour later, she felt completely refreshed. After wrapping up in a soft bathrobe and combing out her hair, she sat down at her computer to begin her homework.

It was two in the morning when Emmy shot up in bed gasping for air. She looked around her, all her senses slowly coming back. Lying back down, Emmy started shaking. She had just had the dream again. The one where she was there, but couldn't do anything to stop it. She tried to scream but she couldn't. Instead, she just had to sit and watch as the whole scene unfolded in front of her helpless eyes. Silent tears streamed down Emmy's face as she pulled the blankets tighter around her.


	5. Chapter 5

Tim yawned as he threw his stuff into his truck on Friday morning. Still wiping sleep from his eyes, he started the engine. He was thinking about Emmy, as he had been a lot this past week. It was stupid, and he knew that. She was harsh, and sarcastic, and hardly ever said a word to him. In fact, she ignored him a lot. But maybe that was part of it. Girls just simply did not act that way around Tim Riggins and he wasn't used to it. But besides that, Tim could see that she was a lot different than most of the people living in Dillon. He hadn't figured it out yet, but with all the time he was spending lately thinking about her, he was sure he would soon.

Emmy turned around to lock her car as she walked into school with Julie and Tyra. She hadn't intended on making friends in Dillon, but after the first few days of school it was clear she wasn't going to make it without at least a few people to talk to. The funny thing was that Emmy was normally a bubbly, outgoing person. If any of her friends from Colorado saw her now, they wouldn't even recognize her. Back home, Emmy had always been the loudest of her friends. After the accident though, she had completely shut down. Luckily she had met Julie and Tyra, who weren't anything like the ditzy cheerleaders Emmy had observed on her first day. First of all, Julie danced which immediately drew Emmy to her. Tyra didn't take any crap from anyone, which Emmy liked. She was straightforward and didn't bullshit around anything. Emmy wasn't exactly friendly with them yet, but her icy exterior was slowly melting away, and Julie and Tyra could tell.

"So are you coming to the game tonight?" Tim asked Emmy in English.

"What game." Emmy mumbled blankly without looking up. Emmy knew exactly what game Tim was talking about. It was all her grandparents could seem to talk about at dinner last night.

"You know what game." Tim answered all knowingly. Emmy finally looked up at Tim, and wished she hadn't. He was starting at her with his big, bright eyes, and smiling at her in a way that made her heart jump. _No._ She told herself. She wouldn't let it happen. Especially not after her last boyfriend. Tim Riggins was exactly the kind of guy she needed to stay away from. She had already heard enough stories from Julie and Tyra to know that.

"So are you coming?" Tim repeated.

"No." Emmy answered looking back to the papers on her desk.

Tim had felt it. He knew he had. As he turned back around in his seat, he smiled to himself. In that brief moment when she had looked up at him, he could see it in her eyes.

Emmy hesitated as she looked into the expectant eyes of her grandparents. She had just come from dance and was about to go take a shower when her grandparents cornered her in the kitchen.

"Emmy honey you're planning on coming to the football game tonight, right?" her grandmother asked innocently. Emmy winced. She knew this would be coming. Her grandparents were, well to put it plainly, loaded. They were constantly donating money to the Dillon Panthers. Her grandfather was considered very important to the football team. He went to practices, helped make decisions, and always knew what was going on with the team before anyone else. Both of her grandparents were good friends with the coach and his family and Panther Football was a huge part of their lives. Emmy sighed inwardly. She knew how much they wanted it to be a part of her life too. _I guess one game won't hurt. _

"I guess so, sure." Emmy surrendered. Both her grandparent's faces lit up at this.

"Excellent!" her grandfather cried. "Now, the game starts at eight, but your grandmother and I are going early. Do you want to ride with us?"

"Um, no that's okay I'll just come myself once I've changed and everything." Emmy answered quickly. There was no way she was spending one more second at this game than absolutely necessary.

Trudging up to her room, Emmy immediately headed for the shower. Just as she was about to turn the water on, her phone buzzed. She lifted it off the bathroom counter and looked at the text message. It was from a number she didn't recognize. _Hey Emmy!_ It began._ This is Julie! I got your number from Gina. I was just wondering if you were going to the game tonight. If you are, look for me and we can sit together!_ Emmy set down the phone and closed her eyes. It was going to be a long night.

As she pulled into the jammed parking lot of Dillon High School for the second time that day, Emmy checked her reflection in the rearview mirror. Her hair sometimes had a mind of its own, and today was no exception. It was curly and wild because of the humidity, and was visible even under the hood of her black sweatshirt. Her face, tanned and lightly freckled wore the same sad, almost blank expression it had been wearing for a while now. She kicked a pebble with her shoe and ran her finger along the small rips in her jeans as she began walking toward the stadium.

Almost as soon as she entered, she saw her grandparents talking to the woman she recognized as Mrs. Taylor from school.

"Emmy! Over here!" her grandmother called to her. Emmy put a smile on her face on walked over to meet her grandparents.

"Emmy, this is Mrs. Taylor." Her grandfather began. "Her husband is the head coach."

"Emmy and I have already met, haven't we Emmy!" Mrs. Taylor chimed.

Emmy smiled again for her grandparents sake. "Yup!" She answered with syrupy sweetness.

"But when I met you at school I had no idea you were the granddaughter of two of the biggest supporters of the Dillon Panthers!" Mrs. Taylor continued. Emmy's grandparents beamed, obviously pleased with the title they had just been given. Emmy was wondering how much longer she was going have to make small talk when Julie walked up.

"Hey Mom!" Julie said to Mrs. Taylor. _Mom?!_ Emmy thought. She had severely underestimated exactly how much of a small town Dillon was. "Come on Emmy!" Julie continued interrupting Emmy's thoughts. "Let's go sit down." Emmy followed Julie to the stands where Tyra was already sitting. If she was being completely honest with herself, the game wasn't quite as bad as Emmy had anticipated. Tyra and Julie talked nearly the whole time, mostly about the football team. This vaguely interested Emmy, but what most captured her attention was the amazing energy in the football stadium. There was a certain buzz amongst all the people, and it reminded Emmy of performing: something that used to be her most favorite thing to do in the entire world. It wasn't until now that she realized how much she missed it.

It was pouring rain, but Emmy didn't care. She was still in a daze from the game and deep in thought. As she unlocked the door of her car, she turned to look one last time at the football stadium. Standing just across the parking lot from her was Tim Riggins. She looked at him, and felt him looking back. They held each others' gaze for a moment, and Tim almost looked as if he was about to cross the window of space between them. But Emmy quickly turned, climbed into her car, and sped away.

Tim's muscle's ached as he exited the locker room after the win. It was raining, but he didn't mind. He started toward the parking lot, but stopped when he saw her standing there. _Damn_. Tim said to himself. The rain was surrounding Emmy in a way that made her appear too beautiful to be human. He caught her eye, and she didn't turn away. Tim was about to make his way over to her when she turned. As he watched her drive away, Tim let out a breath. What was this girl doing to him?


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks SO much for reviewing guys!!! I hope you like it**

Chapter Six

Emmy frowned into the bathroom mirror as she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail for dance on Saturday morning. She didn't know what had passed between her and Tim last night, but she didn't like the thought of it. She had felt something, and she knew that Tim had felt something too. After what had happened with Nate in Colorado, she knew she couldn't handle that right now. Emmy sighed and grabbed her phone as she headed back to the main part of her room. The memories of what Nate had done to her still plagued her, and she knew that Tim had the same kind of reputation that Nate did. Emmy simply didn't trust guys now, and she had built a hard, solid wall around herself that would be hard for any guy, even Tim Riggins to break down.

Tim deliberately watched Emmy as she entered the English classroom on Monday. He didn't think it was possible, but somehow the aqua blue of her sweatshirt made her eyes even more captivating than usual. Tim's vision and thoughts were disturbed by Brenda, another rally girl, stepping deliberately in front of his desk. Tim slowly looked up at her. She started smiling and babbling about how great Tim had played on Friday, and how they should totally hang out sometime. Emmy brushed by them to get to her seat, and Tim saw her roll her eyes and the corners of her mouth turn up ever so slightly. This made Tim smile, and he raised his eyebrows as he looked up at Brenda, who was still running her mouth. She sounded so ditzy and shallow that Tim actually heard Emmy laugh behind him. Tim was suppressing his own laughter when he saw Brenda glaring at Emmy. Emmy quickly looked down and tried to cover her laughter with coughing, but it wasn't very subtle.

"Ok, well I guess I'll just talk to you later then Tim." Brenda scoffed as she turned and set off toward her desk.

Emmy and Tim watched her go, and Tim turned to face Emmy.

"Now, that wasn't very nice of you." Tim jokingly scolded her.

"I'm sorry," Emmy began. "I don't know what came over me. It was probably a combination of the orange fake tan on her face and the brilliant conversation you two were having."

"Gosh, so sarcastic." Tim gasped pretending to be shocked.

Emmy shook her head and shuffled around in her backpack for a pencil.

"Now, I could be wrong, but I could have sworn a saw a smile on your face when you walked past my desk a few minutes ago."

Emmy looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

"But that would have been impossible, right?" Tim asked. "Because you don't smile."

"Right." Emmy retorted, eyes twinkling and trying her hardest not to smile. Tim felt his breath catch as he turned around in his seat. Was he actually getting through to Emmy?

"Ok guys, settle down and be quiet!" Mr. Smith's voice sounded from the front of the room. "The sheet of paper I'm about to pass out to you is your next creative writing assignment. You have the rest of the hour to work on it, and I want to see a rough draft tomorrow."

Emmy looked down at the paper that landed on her desk and began to scan the words. _The Worst Moment of Your Life._ Emmy's chest tightened. She didn't even need to think about that one. Emmy looked up from the paper and stared blankly out the window. Deep in thought, she jumped when the bell rang nearly an hour later. She quickly stood up and started for the door.

"See ya later." Tim said to her.

"Yeah. See ya." Emmy mumbled softly back. Tim watched her once again as she navigated through all the people now filling the hallways.

Emmy sighed deeply as she sat in her last period. She had been too nice to Tim today, and the paper assignment from Mr. Smith had put her in a bad mood. Emmy didn't want to write this paper, and the last thing she needed was to her guard down, even a little bit, around Tim.

After school, Emmy pushed her way through the sea of students toward the parking lot.

"Hey." She heard a voice come up beside her.

Emmy turned and saw Tim standing next to her. "Hey." She replied, and quickened her pace.

Tim wouldn't be thwarted that easily. "How's it goin?" he asked.

"Fine." Emmy answered dully. She knew she could not do this. Tim would just end up hurting her. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her not to trust him as they crossed the parking lot together.

"Hey look, we parked next to each other." Tim smiled at Emmy as she unlocked her car.

"Cool." Emmy couldn't repress her smile at how desperate Tim sounded. _Don't trust him!_

"Hey!" Tim exclaimed. "That's two smiles in one day! That has got to be some kind of new record." _Don't trust him!!_

Emmy rolled her eyes and turned around to face Tim. Leaning up against her car she folded her arms and opened her mouth to say something when she saw something shinning in the front seat of Tim's car, and frowned.

"What's that?" she asked stretching to get a better look.

"What?" Tim turned around to look. "You mean beer cans?" Tim asked confused. _Why did she care?_

"So you drink a lot? And drive while doing it apparently?" Emmy interrogated, an icy glare finding its way back to her face.

"Um, am I missing something here?" Tim asked. "Why do you even care?"

"Never mind." Emmy said coldly. "I gotta go." She turned back to her car, but Tim grabbed her arm.

"Hold on! What's going on?" he asked.

"I knew there was a reason I didn't like you. You're nothing but a stupid drunk." She spit at him. Emmy knew she was overreacting, but after her parents, she had zero tolerance for alcohol. That's what she told herself, but deep down she knew she was embarrassed. She had been about to make the same exact mistake she had made in Colorado, the same mistake that had left both her parents dead. Tears welled in her eyes just thinking about it.

Tim looked as though he had just been slapped in the face. "What the hell is your problem?" Tim nearly shouted, now angry. "What makes you think you can judge me like that?! Just because you hate the world doesn't mean you're above it. I'll drink wherever and whenever the hell I want!"

"Your parents must be so proud." Emmy spat sarcastically.

Tim tightened. "Don't ever talk about my parents!" he hissed in her face. "At least my parents didn't raise a cold-hearted bitch like yours did. They must really really love you!" he finished with an eye roll.

Emmy felt like she had just been slapped. She shook her head and quickly turned to prevent Tim from seeing her tears. She slammed her car door behind her and peeled out of the parking lot as quickly as possible.

Tim stood up straighter and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't know what had just happened, but he had a feeling he had handled it very wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

Emmy could hardly see thanks to the tears blinding her as she drove home. She sped right by the dance studio, knowing Gina would worry about her. Emmy never skipped dance. After parking her car in the driveway, Emmy ran into the house. Ignoring her grandparents concerned calls, she raced up to her room and slammed the door behind her. Throwing her stuff on the floor, Emmy turned her computer on and began to write. She was now fully sobbing and she punched the keys on the computer harder with each word. By the time she was done, it was hours later and Emmy was exhausted. Mr. Smith's essay about the worst moment of her life was now complete, and it told every detail. It was something Emmy had never spoken of, not to anyone, but she had needed to get it all out after what Tim had said. Emmy fell on her bed and drifted off to sleep without bothering to change.

Emmy yawned as she walked into school the next morning, headphones in ears. She was still wiped out from last night, and was beginning to regret writing that essay. _Oh well,_ she thought. _It's just a rough draft. No one will even read it, and I'll write a new one to actually turn in._

Tim tried not to look at her as she walked into English that day. There was clearly something wrong with her after the way she had yelled at him yesterday. Granted he hadn't been especially nice to her either, but he still didn't think it justified her yelling at him like that. Tim couldn't help from stealing a glance as she walked by his desk. _Damn,_ he thought. She would be a lot easier to ignore and forget about if she wasn't so gorgeous.

Emmy purposely averted her eyes from Tim as she sat down. She mind drifted, as it usually did, as Mr. Smith called the class to attention and she set her paper face-down on her desk. Emmy's mind was still whirling, mostly with anger at Tim when Mr. Smith came around and picked up the paper on her desk.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Emmy asked Mr. Smith in concern.

"We're peer editing our papers." Mr. Smith began. "Weren't you listening Emmy?"

"Um, well I just…" Emmy began. There was no way she could let anyone read her paper.

"Don't worry Emmy. It's just a rough draft. No one will judge your writing!"

"Well, I just really don't think…" she tried again.

"Emmy." Mr. Smith cut her off sharply. "We can all learn from the advice our classmates have to offer.

Emmy sat stunned in her chair. Mr. Smith was randomly passing the papers back out to the class for peer editing. Some random person she didn't even know was going to get hers and know everything. Emmy couldn't move. She looked at the paper that landed on her desk from Mr. Smith. The name on the top meant nothing to her- she had no idea who this person was. Emmy looked around the room trying to see who had her paper. She could make an excuse to go get it back. She hadn't meant for this to happen. No one was supposed to read this paper. She saw Mr. Smith glaring at her from the front of the room and quickly looked down at her desk.

Tim sighed and moved his eyes to the paper now in front of him. He inhaled sharply when he saw whose it was. _Great, _Tim thought to himself. _Just my luck I get Emmy's paper._ Tim rolled his eyes and began to read. He figured he should make it look like he was doing something.

Tim's feelings of annoyance disappeared as soon as he started reading Emmy's paper. He couldn't believe what he was reading. No wonder Emmy had gotten so upset about his drinking yesterday. Tim groaned softly. He felt like a huge jerk. When he had finished reading he turned around to face Emmy.

"Emmy, I…" he began. But he couldn't finish. Emmy saw her paper on Tim's desk and her eyes welled up with tears. She shot up from her desk and headed for the door.

"Emmy where…" Mr. Smith began.

"Bathroom!" Emmy interrupted, already out the door. Tim looked after her. He knew he should follow her, but he was frozen in his seat.

Emmy threw open the doors of the school as she stalked out to the parking lot. Her eyes were filled with tears and emotions were swirling inside of her. Everything she had tried to suppress in the last year, every feeling of sorrow and guilt and anger was coming back. That night flashed through her mind. Her fight with a very drunk Nate, him leaving the party, her trying to stop him. Then later, being woken up, being told there had been an accident. Nate was involved. So were her parents. Emmy was at her car and about to drive away when she realized her keys were in her backpack, which she had left in the classroom. There was no way she was going back in there. Emmy leaned against the side of her car, and slowly sunk to the ground. She was crying so hard she barely noticed when a body sunk down next to her.

Emmy looked up with tear-filled eyes. Tim Riggins was sitting next to her. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Look, Emmy I'm really sorry. I didn't know…"He trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

"It was my fault." She burst suddenly, her voice shaky. "I should have stopped him, I should have tried harder."

"Emmy listen to me." Tim said fiercely. "What Nate did was NOT your fault. He was an idiot and there is nothing you could have done to change that!"

Emmy just looked at him with her clear blue eyes, now completely tear-filled. She just shook her head again and put her forehead down on his shoulder.

"It was my fault!" she sobbed, now into Tim's shirt. Not knowing what he was supposed to do, Tim tentatively put an arm around Emmy's trembling shoulders. They sat that way until they heard the bell signaling the end of 4th period. Emmy straightened herself, wiped her eyes, and stood up. Tim looked up at her from the ground with concerned eyes. Emmy put out her hand and pulled Tim up. They looked at each other for a minute, and then Emmy turned and began walking back into school. Tim followed close behind, still shocked by what had just happened.

Tim was uncharacteristically quiet the rest of the day, constantly thinking about Emmy. At the end of the day, he hurried out to the parking lot, trying to catch Emmy before he left. He got there just in time to see her Jeep pulling out from its parking space. Not thinking, Tim hopped in his truck and began to follow her. He knew he would get in trouble for skipping practice, but right now he didn't care. Tim got stuck behind some other cars, and lost sight of Emmy's car. Frustrated, he was about to turn around and go back to school when he saw her car in a parking lot of some building he had never noticed before. Tim turned in, and parked his car. Getting out of his car, he looked around and started toward the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

**HEYYYY! SO, I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A REALLY REALLY LONG TIME AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF ANYONE IS STILL READING THIS. BUT ANYWAY….HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER AND IT'S SUPER SHORT BUT I'LL UPDATE A LOT SOONER THIS TIME (: SO IF ANYONE IS STILL READING….**

Emmy had never needed to dance more than she did today. Gina was busy, but the studio was empty so Emmy was free to do what she wanted. After changing, she made her way to the floor, turned on the music, and let it fill her body. She danced like never before, letting all her emotions melt away. Everything that had happened in the past few hours fell away from her body. 

Tim looked in the window of the dance studio, and what he saw took his breath away. He had never seen anyone move like that. Emmy was the last person he ever would have pegged for a dancer, but there she was. Tim watched her move, and watched her facial expressions. He knew that as he looked through that window at her, he wasn't just watching her dance. Rather, it was as if that window in front of the dance studio was a window into Emmy. He saw through her, and watched intently as she poured her emotions out through dance. Just then, Emmy looked up at him, her eyes intense. She didn't look happy. 

Emmy's surroundings faded away, and she almost completely forgot where she was. Breathing hard, she stopped dancing for minute and glanced up at the studio door. Emmy froze. Standing just outside the door, staring at her was Tim Riggins. Emmy fumed. He was the last person he wanted to see right now. Without thinking, she grabbed her things and stormed out the door, right past Tim.

He was surprised when he saw her heading toward him.

"Hey!" he called out to her as she breezed by him. Emmy said nothing, but quickened her pace toward her car.

"Hey!" Tim called a little louder, now almost running to keep up with her. "Wait up!"

Emmy threw her things in the backseat of her car and slowly turned on Tim. "What is your problem!" she asked. "Can't you just leave me alone?" 

"Hey, don't be so angry," Tim began. "You were amazing in there."

Emmy rolled her eyes. "Great." She said. "Maybe next time you decide to follow me after school you can give me a heads up so I can give you a better show." With that she jumped into her car and left the dance studio.

Tim kicked the side of his truck in anger, and did the same. He wasn't getting anywhere with this one. 

Emmy sighed as she neared her grandparent's home. She wasn't crying; she had already used up all her tears earlier that day. 

That night, Emmy was robotic. She ate dinner with her grandparents, showered, and finished her homework. It wasn't until she was safely in bed that she relaxed and allowed herself to go back over the events of the day. Whenever she thought about Tim, she seethed with anger. Who did he think he was! 

_Cut the crap, Emmy._ She told herself. Emmy exhaled deeply and put her headphones in. She didn't want to think about how she was feeling, because she knew she wasn't actually seething with anger. Rather, she was filled with fear. Fear at what she had done. She had unintentionally let Tim in. He had seen her cry, he knew her deepest secrets, and he had seen her dance. She had been more vulnerable today than she had in a long time, and Tim Riggins had seen all of it. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**chapter nine…a little sooner than the last one! thank you soo much for the reviews guys!! honestly, they make me super happy and I'm glad some people are still reading this!! happy reading (:**

Emmy woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. She groaned as she rolled over in bed and looked out the window. It was raining and Emmy didn't want to get out of bed. She didn't want to go to school and face Tim. She didn't want to face what he knew. 

After some hard deliberation, Emmy decided she had to face him sooner or later, and skipping school would just make worse. Sighing, she pulled herself out of bed and began to get ready for school.

Emmy bit her nails in anticipation all morning. Would Tim talk to her? Laugh at her? What would he think of her now? Why did she care? 

When she burst into English class at the sound of the bell, Emmy nearly laughed with joy. Tim wasn't there! Emmy smiled to herself as she made her way back to her desk. All her worrying had been for nothing. And to her surprise, Tim didn't show up to class again until Friday.

As he walked into English on Friday, Tim's eyes were fixed on Emmy. Her head was down on her desk, headphones in ears. 

"Tired?" he asked as he sat down in front of her.

Somehow, she heard him over her music. "No." she replied.

Neither one of them said anything for a while, but Emmy couldn't stand the silence for once.

"Where have you been?" she asked him trying to sound uninterested.

Tim smiled. "I took a couple a days off." He answered. "I didn't know you cared." He finished with twinkling eyes.

Emmy sat up straight. "I don't. I mean…." She trailed off, not sure of what to say.

"Hey it's cool." Tim cut in. "I understand that you want to know where I am at all times!"

Emmy rolled her eyes. "That's interesting coming from someone who follows me after school!" she snapped.

Tim just turned around in his seat, smiling. 

Emmy couldn't focus at all during English that day. All she could think about was Tim, and she kicked herself for this. _You are NOT falling for him._ She told herself over and over again. But no matter how many times she said it, deep down a part of her knew it wasn't true.

"Hey Emmy! Wait up!" Tim called as her hurried toward her after school. She turned around to look at him.

"What?" she inquired, now at her car. 

"Hey." Tim repeated, now out of breath from chasing her. "Look, about everything that happened the other day…" he began. Emmy tensed up. "I'm really sorry. I'm sorry I followed you, and I'm sorry I read your paper, and I'm really sorry about what happened to your parents."

Emmy could feel the tears beginning to well in her eyes. "It's fine. I'm fine" Emmy answered him with no emotion.

"No." Tim said. "You're not fine, and I know it. Maybe you don't realize it yet, but you're not fine."

Emmy blinked hard, willing the tears to stay in her eyes.

Tim swallowed. "I…I know how you feel. Both my parents walked out on me, and I wasn't fine for a really long time. I'm not even sure if I'm fine now."

Emmy looked up at him, surprised and confused. This wasn't the Tim Riggins she had heard so much about; the notorious drinker and partier, whose only interests were sex and football. 

"Um, thanks." She heard herself saying.

"Ok, well I guess I'll see you later. Are you coming to the game tonight?"

"I don't know, probably not." Emmy answered, unsure of how to act.

"Oh, ok, see you on Monday then." Tim turned to walk away.

"Hey Tim?" Emmy called after him.

"Yeah?" he turned around, surprised.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Emmy and Tim both smiled to themselves as they went their separate ways. 

Emmy's grandparents greeted her as she entered the house that day after dance. 

"How was dance?" her grandmother asked as she dropped her stuff.

"Fine." She found herself automatically saying as she headed to the kitchen for something to drink.

"And how about school?" her grandfather asked.

"Fine." Emmy said without thinking. She stopped with a water bottle midway to her mouth after this answer, and thought about what Tim had said. _You're not fine._ His voice echoed in her head. Suddenly, Emmy felt as though the walls of the kitchen were closing in on her. Tim had been right. She wasn't fine, and now she felt that in full effect. Emmy took off for her bedroom, ignoring her grandparent's calls about what she wanted for dinner. 

Emmy collapsed on her bed and took a deep breath. The past few weeks flashed before her eyes. Everything that had happened to her at Dillon High School had seemed terrible at the time. But when she looked back, Emmy realized that whenever she had been around Tim, she had felt lighter. Happier. Calmer. Like things were going to be ok. Emmy pulled herself off the bed. She was going to the football game. She wasn't sure why, but she knew she needed to see Tim. 


End file.
